Justice News

Pine Ridge Man Sentenced for Second Degree Murder

United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Pine Ridge, South Dakota, man convicted of Second Degree Murder was sentenced on August 15, 2016, by Chief Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.

Steven Steele, age 23, was sentenced to 210 months’ custody, followed by 5 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Steele pleaded guilty to the charge on April 22, 2016. The conviction stems from Steele and others striking the victim with a cinder block, kicking the victim in the head and face, beating the victim with a stick, and striking the victim in the back of his head with a machete on July 12, 2015. The cause of death was multiple blunt trauma to the head, including a skull fracture and hemorrhaging.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services, the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Poppen prosecuted the case.

Steele was immediately returned to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.